


We Fly Through the Great Sky

by sapphireswimming



Series: Aces [7]
Category: Gundam 00
Genre: Celestial Being is Earthside (Gundam 00), Friendship, Gen, Gen Work, Gundam 00 Week 2018, Humor, One Shot, Ptolemy (Gundam 00), Team Bonding, The Bridge Crew (Gundam 00), slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphireswimming/pseuds/sapphireswimming
Summary: Trips down to Earth are great for stocking up on supplies. And gifts. Chris may have outdone herself this time
Series: Aces [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957048
Kudos: 2





	We Fly Through the Great Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13734329/1/
> 
> Written for Gundam 00 Week 2018 Day 7: Tomorrow
> 
> Title from the Gundam 00 insert song _Tomorrow_
> 
> No warnings, no spoilers

* * *

The shuttle docked on the Ptolemy and Chris pushed out of her seat, grateful for the chance to stretch her legs again. Trips to Earth were great and all, but she could do without the overnight train ride and being stuck in the shuttle after.

But Lichty and Feldt were waiting for them at the bay door.

"Welcome back!" Feldt said, smiling as Chris joined them in the hallway.

"Yeah, welcome back!" Lichty said, bounding forward to help her with her luggage.

She let him take the duffel bag from her right hand, and Feldt grabbed the book in her left. That just left her with an overstuffed backpack that she hefted further up onto her shoulders.

"Looks like you really hit the jackpot," Lichty groaned as he realized just how heavy the bag was.

"Oh yeah!" she said, excitedly. "There were all sorts of good sales and I just couldn't help myself. I got all sorts of things…"

Chris started moving down the hallway and Feldt followed, while Lichty awkwardly scooted along sideways with the duffel bag bouncing against his knees.

"I got some clothes, and some food," she started counting off on her fingers.

"You didn't forget to get some fruit, did you?" Lichty asked.

Chris turned around and laughed. "You think I'd forget?" she asked, waving her hands in front of her. "I got some apples _and_ clementines."

"Yes!" Lichty said, stretching out the word and looking like he would have fist pumped if he hadn't had both hands full.

"And I got another surprise for everyone," Chris lilted as she continued walking backwards in front of them.

"Oh man, what is it?" Lichty asked.

She grinned. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Oh, come on," Lichty groaned. "Come on, please?" Chris just laughed. "Please? Just a hint maybe? Give us a hint," he begged as she shook her head.

"Have you had anything to eat?" Feldt asked.

"Not for a while," Chris said, turning around again. "The last meal they gave us on the train was a while ago and I didn't feel like digging into my bag for chips on the shuttle. Thought that if I opened it, I'd never get it all back in!"

"Well, the mess hall should be pretty empty right now," Feldt said.

"And that means plenty of room for an unpacking party!" Lichty added.

Doctor Moreno rounded the corner and stopped just in time to avoid a duffel bag to the knees. "What's this I hear about an unpacking party?" he asked.

"Hey, Doctor Moreno!" Chris said. "I just got back, and brought some stuff with me," she said and Lichty lifted up the bag a bit as proof.

"We were just going to go to the mess hall to start unpacking some of it," he added.

"Want to join us?" Chris asked. "I brought clementines."

Doctor Moreno adjusted his glasses as he surveyed the scene. "I would absolutely love to," he said, falling into step with them as they crossed the Ptolemy.

Once they got to the mess hall, Lichty hefted the bag on top of the table and Chris pulled it toward her to start unzipping it. The contents of the bag threatened to overflow as soon as it started to open. Feldt rescued the bag of apples that began cascading down the side and the clementines that wanted to follow soon after.

She crossed to the cabinets and retrieved the fruit bowl they owned for just such an occasion, taking them out of the bags and neatly stacking each fruit into a pyramid.

Lichty claimed two of the apples before they could disappear, stuffing them into his jacket pockets for later. Moreno asked him for a Clementine which he doubled back to get, tossing it across the table. He started to peel it and popped a slice in his mouth as Chris began unpacking the rest of the bag.

There were bags of candy and cookies already spread across the table. She added multiple bags of popcorn, "For our movie nights," she said with a wink. Then came a series of differently flavored teas, their tins clinking against the table as she lined them up.

Next was a layer of clothing—shirts, scarves, and a dress—that she bundled into Feldt's arms. "It has such a billowy skirt, you're going to love it," she promised.

Behind them was a brightly colored bag that Lichty grabbed. "Huh, these are new," he said, reading the label to discover they were a kind of Filipino shortbread.

"Oh, yeah, those are really, really good," Chris said. "I cracked open the other bag while I was waiting for the elevator. I think I put the rest of them," she rummaged around until she found a tin of Italian wafers, "in here!" She pulled off the top and tipped out a bunch of individually wrapped polvoron. "Lasse owes me big for tracking that down," she said as she set the tin aside.

"Oh, and this worked out perfectly," she said, pulling out two pairs of aviator sunglasses and handing them over to Moreno and Lichty. "Here you go."

"For me?" Lichty asked, immediately trying them on.

"There was a buy one, get one half off sale," she said, shrugging a little and grinning. "How was I supposed to pass that up?"

Moreno turned over the pair in his hands, considering them for a moment before taking his glasses off and tucking them carefully into his shirt pocket. He blinked a little at the bright light overhead, but quickly replaced them with the new lenses and stared at different points around the room to see how they compared.

"Thank you, Chris," he said.

"Of course!" she replied, brightly. "Thought you could use an update. Or a backup pair, in case you don't really like them," she added.

"No, these are wonderful," he said with a smile.

"How do I look?" Lichty asked, swiveling his head so everyone could get a good look at them.

"Perfect," Doctor Moreno said.

Feldt leaned over the table to get a better look. "They look really good," she told him.

Lichty beamed. "Really?"

"Really," Chris laughed. "They look perfect on both of you. Just like I knew they would."

"Awesome," Lichty said as he went to take them off. "Too bad there's not much use for sunglasses up here," he lamented.

As both of Moreno's eyebrows rose, Lichty tried to back peddle. "Uh, I mean these are perfect! And I'll wear them all the time," he said, quickly putting them back on as Chris uncovered a few clinking bottles of booze for Miss Sumeragi.

"And Feldt, I got that other stuff we were talking about," she said, pulling out a large shopping bag and hiding it beneath the table as soon as Lichty tried to peek inside. "Uh no," she said, "You don't get to see it yet! It's a surprise," she said, handing it off to Feldt who carefully put it under her chair.

Lichty pulled a face but was soon distracted by the long box Chris hefted onto the table. "But this," she said, with a wild glint in her eyes, "is for everyone."

"What is it?" Lichty asked, pulling up his sunglasses to get a better look at the printing on the side of the box.

"Trading cards," she announced with glee.

Feldt and Lichty both looked confused. "Trading cards…?" they asked.

"Yes," Chris said, pulling off the perforated top of the cardboard box. "They've started making trading cards of the pilots from each Bloc. Because of the show," she said.

"No way!" Lichty said, moving to stand right next to her as she opened them.

"Yeah, I had no clue until I saw these near the checkout of this one place and I was like I need to get these. So they sell them in these mystery packs. Each Bloc is a different color foil, see?" she said, holding them up. "The Union's silver, AEU's gold, and the HRL is this bronze-ish color. It would have taken too long to do the math for how many I needed to get for everyone to end up with 3 packs," she admitted. "So I just…"

"…Bought a box," Feldt supplied.

"Yep! So hopefully there's enough in here for everyone to get a pack of each," she said, starting to count through them. Midway through, she stopped and just upended the box, shaking out the packs and spreading them around the table, sorting them by color.

Lichty extended an arm and swept the rest of her finds off to the edge of the table so they would have more room to distribute them.

"If we don't have enough for everyone, we don't have to give any to Tiera," she laughed. "You want some, though, right?" she asked, turning to Moreno.

"Of course," he grinned, laying his half eaten Clementine aside long enough to grab a pile and start counting how many packs there were. "If there are enough of these," he added. "Which… it looks like there will be," he said before starting to deal them out in piles as if they were playing cards. "Looks like there are thirty six packs, so that's enough for everyone and then an extra set of each."

"Mine!" Chris claimed before anyone else had a chance to open their mouths. "They're mine – I bought them. They're mine. I get the extras."

Moreno and Feldt finished divvying up the packs into equal piles. Lichty immediately grabbed one, then paused. "Can I?" he asked Chris.

"Go for it," she said, and he started unwrapping. Feldt also picked up a pile and Moreno slid one over toward himself as he ate another slice.

Feldt started reading off the backs of the foil wrapped packs. "… Based on the TV spot and featuring pilots and mech units from across the world, this AEU mystery booster pack contains 6 regular cards, 2 uncommon cards, 1 rare card, and 1 sticker."

"Stickers, huh?" Moreno asked as he carefully tore the corner off of a silver pack.

"I'll take them if you don't want them," Chris offered, a twinkle in her eye.

He looked affronted, pulling his hards closer. "Steal my stickers?" he asked with a crooked grin. "Never," he said, crumpling up the wrapper and dropping it onto the table where it quickly unfolded from its crinkled ball.

"Oh, well would you look at that," he said, peering down at his cards. "A Graham Aker. Good beginning. And… another Graham Aker," he said, flipping to the next one. "Lucky me."

"What?" Chris pulled his hands down to see two different shots of the Union's Ace staring up at her. "Oh my god." She released his hand to grab her six packs and start in on a Union one. Within moments, it was unwrapped, and she flipped through it wildly, face falling as she realized that hers didn't contain a Graham card. "Noooooo," she said, "no, no, no."

"You still have another pack," Feldt consoled her, picking up the other silver pack and holding it out to her.

Quickly, Chris opened it and rifled through the cards. "What?" she asked in distress as she did it again. "I don't have one. How do I not have one? It should be impossible not to get a Graham Aker card in a Union pack," she wailed.

"Feldt, Lichty, do you have one?" she asked, slamming both hands on the table as she leaned over toward them.

Feldt rotated her hand of cards to show that she did indeed have a Graham. Lichty snatched his cards closer to his chest. "So what if I do?" he asked, voice wavering.

"Lichty, give me your Graham," Chris demanded, holding out a hand.

"No," he said, moving them over past his shoulder.

"Then trade me your Graham. I've got…" she fanned out her cards, "I've got a Darryl and Howard, and the guy from Iowa, and two Joshuas, and the ponytail scientist guy, and like five Flags. Here," he held out a card, "take a Joshua."

Lichty checked his cards. "No, I have a Joshua too."

"Fine, then what about Darryl and Howard? Then you can have both of them. Or some Flags," she offered instead. "Do you want some Flags? I'll trade you three Flags for Graham."

"No," Lichty protested, lifting his cards high up in the air to keep them out of reach as Chris came around the table.

"Fine," she grumbled, then turned her attention to Moreno. "You've got two," she said. "Will you trade me a Graham? I'll give you anything I've got," she said.

She didn't see the slicing motions Lichty made across his neck from behind her. Feldt chuckled.

Moreno raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm," he said, pulling up his hand to study it. "Hmmm, no, I don't think so?" he said slowly.

Chris slumped over the table for a moment. "Come on, what do you want? Do you want to trade cards from another Bloc?" She began ripping open another pack. "Here, look, okay, I have two Somas. I'll trade you a Soma for a Graham," she said, waving it in front of her.

Moreno pursed his lips and shook his head. "I don't know what I've got in my HRL pack yet," he said. "But I'm pretty sure I don't need a card of the Ace who puts Allelujah in the med bay every time they fight."

Chris threw his hands up in the air. "Uh, fine! Although technically," she said, waving a pointed finer around the room. "Technically, these should all be mine. Come on," she pleaded. "Won't anyone trade me their Graham?"

Moreno adjusted his glasses and shook his head. Lichty put down his shades again and kept his cards flat against his jacket. Feldt shook her head.

"I hate all of you," she declared, although there was no real heat behind it. With a long arm, she swept several piles of unopened packs off the table into her arms and moved toward the door.

"Wait, where are you going with those?" Lichty asked.

Feldt stood from her chair. "Weren't you going to get something to eat?" she asked.

Chris turned toward them again. "No. No, I think I'm going to find someone who will trade me a Graham," she said, pushing out of the mess hall.

As the door hissed shut behind her, Lichty pulled his sunglasses back up onto the top of his head and leaned over the table, inspecting his cards again. "Okay," he said, rocking forward on his elbows, "who wants to trade a…"

**Author's Note:**

> **Bonus:**
> 
> Lasse also doesn't have a Graham, otherwise he would absolutely trade with Chris
> 
> Sumeragi does have a Graham and while she considers a trade for the Billy card, she ultimately refuses to be complicit in fueling this ridiculous crush Chris has
> 
> After unwrapping the AEU pack to see Kati looking up at her, Sumeragi has to excuse herself from the bridge
> 
> Chris ends up slipping her double Soma card to Allelujah
> 
> Tieria doesn't want to accept the packs at first, but Lockon laughs and accepts them on his behalf. It turns out that Tieria does has a Graham, but he suddenly becomes extremely attached to his cards and refuses point blank to trade any of them to anyone
> 
> Later, Tieria thoroughly examines every card in the quiet of his cabin, looking for any statistics that were unaired or may come in useful and finding nothing
> 
> Chris has a _blast_ with the stickers


End file.
